Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said he’s “really worried” about Democrats’ prospects in the fall if they nominate either Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont or former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“I mean, the pundits are predicting a world where pretty soon, the only two left standing are Mike Bloomberg because he has so many personal resources and money to do ads and Bernie,” Mr. Buttigieg said in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres airing Friday.
“And you know, I respect both of them, but I’m really worried about our ability to defeat Donald Trump if those are our choices,” he said.
Mr. Buttigieg said that would be a choice between someone who wants to “burn things down” in Mr. Sanders and someone who thinks he can just “buy” the election in Mr. Bloomberg.
“I don’t think either of those choices is going to make it possible for us to bring Americans together and defeat this president — that’s why I’m offering a different approach,” he said.
Mr. Buttigieg is coming off a first-place finish in Iowa and a close second-place finish in New Hampshire behind Mr. Sanders.
But starting with the Nevada caucuses, the Democratic presidential calendar is shifting to states where the percentage of nonwhite residents is higher and Mr. Buttigieg has struggled to gain traction with black voters.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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